Device for delivering a precise quantity of divided tobacco or like material



S 4, 7. 3 w 4m m, F som N Q F V I I D F Ll O Y IIAIDIIAYI w.. L T NM? ARG UES CQml m RwMa. k www2 a. Nauw 9 y P r .cm v Cf O Ra 2 EN BAovM mm Mom 101 4 G onf MAW 4. 5R@ v Vfv m, MT F m R 0 F M E m v E D Sept. 23, 1969 INVENTQR ATToRNey S United States Patent C) U.S. Cl. 222-196 3 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A device for metering exact amounts of nely distributed material such as shredded tobacco from a continuous ow of this material for further processing in batches or for packaging. A mechanism for dividing the ow alternatingly into two deliveries of 4precise quantities.

This invention relates to a distributor for machines for processing tobacco or like material in which provision is made for units which supply the material to be delivered to subsequent units of the machine in a sufficiently divided state, and units for limiting to a portion of the supply stream the quantity which is delivered to said subsequent units.

The invention applies to the supply of a machine with shreds of material of relatively short length which are distributed by a unit such as a crumbling cylinder which has the elect, by reducing the length of said shreds, of separating the shreds from each other and thus of eliminating any lump or compacted and tangled mass.

The invention applies equally to shreds of natural tobacco and to shreds of reconstituted tobacco. lt should additionally be pointed out that, in the case last mentioned, a unit such as a crumbling cylinder will not be indispensable. This will be the case especially when the shreds of reconstituted tobacco are delivered directly into the device according to the invention at the outlet of a cutting apparatus in which the shreds are sulliciently well separated.

'I'he invention can be utilized both in machines for packing cut tobacco in which doses of tobacco are constituted and in the other machines of this industry. The invention is also useful for the purpose of completing approximate doses which have previously been constituted or for the purpose of completing a stream of tobacco in order to reduce irregularities which are found in this latter.

The present invention relates to a device which is designed to deliver a precise quantity of divided tobacco or like material.

To this end, the process which is contemplated by the present invention consists in starting from a stream of tobacco which is in a sufficiently divided state, in feeding the said stream to the units of a subsequent-processing machine by means adapted to limit to a precise quantity the portion which is to be withdrawn from the stream.

The means can be constituted by at least one plate which is slightly inclined to the horizontal and receives the feed stream, said plate being associated with means for causing the tobacco to slide down the slope of said plate towards the subsequent units of the machine. The plate can be of the vibratory type, in which case the frequency of the vibrations can be adjustable in continuous operation according to the quantity of material to be delivered over a given period of time as a function of information received from subsequent units.

The plate can be subjected to continuous vibrations whose characteristics may be variable if so required.

The supply of material to the plate can be noncontinu- 3,468,459 Patented Sept. 23, 1969 ice ous, in which case means such as an orientable hopper are provided for the purpose of discharging from said plate that portion of the stream which is not required by the machine and which can be returned upstream of the means for conveying the continuous stream.

Reference being made to the accompanying drawings, the example of construction which is described herein after relates to the constitution of make-up doses in a machine for dosing cut tobacco according to U.S. patent application No. 420,938 led by the present applicant on December 24, 1964, now abandoned. In a machine of this type, successive doses of tobacco of predetermined weight are constituted by means of an assembly of devices designed for the purpose of preparing volumetric or gravimetric pre-doses completed by make-up doses. Two passageways serve to deliver in alternate succession predoses which are completed by make-up doses delivered by the crumbling unit of a single passageway beneath which is disposed a pallet whereby the necessary make-up doses. A unitary shutter is combined with the pallet whichI diverts the make-up stream, the end of preparation of a make-up dose being thus determined with precision.

However, at the moment of closure of the shutter of the balance A, a certain quantity of cut tobacco is retained; at the time of the second rotation of the pallet after preparation of the make-up dose in the balance B, the cut tobacco which is in suspension between the studded cylinder of the distributor and the pallet is diverted to the shutter of the balance B, thereby substantially increasing the quantity of tobacco which is retained. Consequently, at the beginning of the make-up cycle of the balance A, a fairly large quantity of cut tobacco can be released into the weighing pan; it would then be necessary to wait before proceeding with the preparation of the dose for the crumbled tobacco to reach the pan; this delay is a function of the rate of falling of the tobacco, and can be reduced by controlling the distributor from the programmer so that said distributor is started up prior to the beginning of the cycle. There nevertheless remains the risk of disturbing the make-up dose supply at the beginning of the cycle, which would result in aggravation of the weight dispersion of the doses.

In a machine of this type, the device according to the invention makes it possible to eliminate the risk referred to above.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view of the units employed for distributing material into two pans from a single supply passageway;

FIG. 2 is -a longitudinal sectional view of the devices, this view being taken along line II--ll of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a general view of the mechanical components of the device according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the electropneumatic elements;

FIG. 5 is a process-control diagram.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vibratory plates 3 and 4 are slightly inclined to the horizontal and the bottom edges of said plates are located above the pans 1 and 2 respectively. Said vibratory plates are supplied individually from a conventional vibratory device which is not shown in the drawings. A discharge conveyor-belt 5 is located above the vibratory plates 3 and 4, the axis of symmetry of said plates being located in the same plane. The conveyor belt 5 is fitted with strips 6 which project above the plates. The hopper 7 is capable of rotating about the axis 8 so as to take up three positions: position a towards the plate 3, position b towards the plate 4, position c in which the axis of the hopper is located in the plane referred-to above. These three positions are denoted by the references a, b and c in the diagram of FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, there is disposed at the end of the conveyor-belt 5 a double ight-conveyor belt 14 in which the return run of each branch is adapted to pass at the level of the passageways 12 and 13 for the supply of predoses as shown diagrammatically on each side of the passageway 11 for the supply of make-up doses with the crumbling cylinder 9 and the studded cylinder 10.

In FIG. 4, the hopper 7 which is shown diagrammatically in position a is also capable of taking up by means of a rotational movement about the axis 8 the two positions b and c shown in broken lines. The hopper 7 is coupled to the pistons of the jacks 17 and 18 which are supplied through the electrovalve 19. The double-acting jacks and 16 are mounted in symmetrical manner on each side of the hopper 7 and symmetrically with respect to the aforesaid plane. The piston-stroke of the jacks 15 and 16 is such that the hopper 7 is locked in the central position c at the end of travel of the pistons. The jacks 15 and 16 are supplied through the electrovalve 20. The electrovalve 19 operates in dependence on said electrovalve 20 and the duct for supplying compressed air to the jacks 15 and 16 is connected into the common air duct for the purpose of producing the return motion of said jacks.

The diagram of FIG. 5 shows the distribution in time of the functions of the different units, the references, and indicating respectively the duration of the weighing cycle and the neutralized portion of the cycle whilst the reference D indicates the time of operation of the distributor.

In the form of execution which is presented, the device of the invention operates as follows:

As shown in the diagram, the supply of material to the hopper 7 from the units 9 and 10 of the passageway 11 commences at the same time as the initial orientation of the hopper 7 towards the vibratory plate 3 under the combined action of the jacks 17 and 18 which are supplied by means of the two electrovalves. The plate 3 is set in vibratory motion with a slight time lag until completion of the make-up dose as determined by the information supplied by the weighing units which are coupled to the pan 1. As the vibratory motion of the plate 3 stops and at the same time, the hopper is brought into the intermediate position c under the action of the yjack 16 and maintained in position under the combined action of this latter and of the jack 1S. The tobacco which is present between the studded cylinder 10 and the conveyor belt 5 falls onto this latter and is transferred to the Hight-conveyor 4 belts 14, then re-introduced into the pre-dose passageways 12 and 13 in order that it should not be subjected to further degradation by the crumbling cylinder.

In the following cycle, the hopper 7 is placed in position b as a result of suitable energization of the electrovalve 19 and the make-up material is supplied to the pan 2 in the same manner as in the previous case.

What I claim is:

1. A device for delivering -a precise quantity of a material divided into ue elements such as tobacco, said device comprising at least one plate having a free discharge end and having a slight inclination to the horizontal so that said material is normally at a standstill on said plate, rst means causing said material elements to move down progressively on said plate towards said discharge end in order to be progressively delivered at said end, and second means for stopping at will said rst means, a movable feed hopper above said plate, said hopper having a first position wherein said material is discharged therefrom to said plate and having a second position wherein said m-aterial is discharged therefrom outside said plate, and third means moving said hopper from said first position to said second position when said means for causing said material elements to move down said plate are stopped.

2. A device according to claim .,1, further comprising a conveyor arranged for receiving said material discharged from said hopper when said latter is in said second position.

3. A device according to claim 1, wherein said first means causing said material elements to move on said plate is an adjustable frequency vibrator operable to vibrate said plate.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,190,364 7/1916 Anderson et al 177-98 2,156,280 5/1939 Emmons 177-98 2,654,558 10/ 1953 Kegg 177-98 3,022,843 2/ 1962 Watson et al 177-98 STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 177-98 

